BRAD PITT ‘MADE IT WRONG’

NEW ORLEANS: An attorney plans to sue actor Brad Pitt’s foundation over the degradation of homes built in an area of New Orleans that was among the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.

The forthcoming lawsuit against Pitt’s Make It Right foundation will be filed on behalf of some Lower Ninth Ward residents by attorney Ron Austin.

Enlisting award-winning architects, Pitt founded the venture in 2007, two years after Katrina devastated the city and essentially washed away what would become the Make It Right enclave.

Construction began in 2008, working toward replacing the lost housing with 150 avant-garde dwellings that were stormsafe, solar-powered, highly insulated, and “green”. The homes were available at an average price of $150 000 to residents who received resettlement financing, government grants and donations from the foundation itself.

But 10 years and more than $26 million later, construction has halted at around 40 houses short of Pitt’s goal, and some homes are falling apart. Residents have reported sagging porches, mildewing wood and leaky roofs.

“Essentially, Make It Right was making a lot of promises to come back and fix the homes that they initially sold these people and have failed to do so,” Austin said.

Earlier this year, Make It Right hit the headlines in New Orleans again with the demolition of one of the houses.

Resident Neal Dupar, who is not a part of the forthcoming lawsuit, said Make It Right had responded to his complaints, sending an inspector to look at his house, though he’s heard nothing in since: “I don’t know what the future is going to bring with this house or everybody else’s house, but it’s going downhill now.”